Rating: 
Summary: The quest from Harmony finally leads to the planet Earth
Review: "Earthfall" is the fourth volume in the Harmony/Homecoming series by Orson Scott Card. The first three volume take place on the planet Harmony, where young Nafai heeds the inner voice of the Oversoul, the benevolent computer that has been watching over humanity for 40 million years since Earth was abonded. The Oversoul is breaking down and needs to get back to Earth for repairs and leads Nafai and the Wetchik family through the desert to the place where the ancient starships dwell. Now, in "Earthfall," the travelers return back to Earth to see what has happened to humanity's home. But the conflict between Nafai, who wears the Cloak of the Starmaster, and his jealous older brother Ellemak, still has to reach a final resolution.On the one hand I find "Earthfall" somewhat anticlimatic; it reminds me of "Apocalypse Now," where the journey raised expectations so high that whatever we found at the final destination was going to be disappointing. I think that if there had been a trilogy set on Earth then the series would have worked out better, because I was really expecting there to be more of payoff to the series beyond the idea of Earth being the promised land. There is nothing on Earth to compare with the rich world created on Harmony with Basillica. The two races that have evolved on earth in humanity's long absence, the bats ("angels" and rats ("diggers"), strike me as being a bit reminiscent of the pequinions ("piggies") that we met on Lusitania in "Speaker for the Dead." Beyond the obvious allegory I wanted there to be more. However, while overall I found this volume to be a bit disappointing in terms of my expectations, I did appreciate the way in which Card finally resolves the conflict between Ellemak and Nafai. It certainly ran against my inclinations in that regard, but there is a theme about not giving into your basic instincts running throughout the series. Originally it was the Oversoul that was maintaining mental blocks that precluded humanity from engaging in wars on Harmony. But you now how big humans can be about free choice. Because of that element I thought the end of "Earthfall" sufficiently redeemed the novel. In a sense, "Earthfall" completes the story, with the final volume, "Earthborn," being more of a epilogue because it takes place generations later with an entirely new cast of characters (except for the wearer of the Cloak of the Starmaster). I know of some people who have failed to get through that final volume and I can certainly understand the impulse. But it is the final piece in the narrative argument Card has been constructing, even if it is difficult to make sense of the completed puzzle. I am curious, however, as to whether these five volumes are indeed what Uncle Orson originally planned when he started this series, or if he ended up abandoning an earlier vision. That would certainly explain the great disparity between the first three books and this oddly matched final pair.
Rating: 
Summary: great
Review: about a group of 16 people wha have had many children and are now traviling back to the planet that there ancestors came from 40 million years ago, Earth. There are a great number of quarlles for the leadership. The entire groups is split up. Masterfuly done. Highly recomended.
Rating: 
Summary: The Character of the Patriarchs
Review: As the journey continues Card matures the characters. Yet we see no one flat- everyone, the most evil, has good points; the most good have their own private evils. The Patriarchal disagreements continue- Card uses the vast history of the Genesis stories of Jacob & Esau, Joseph, Abram, and Moses in one cast of characters to give us an idea of how the issues those men dealt with might be recapitulated 40 million years from now on another planet. And so just as in the time of the Judges and the Kings in the Old Testament, here people try to stop the journey from happening, and try to keep the people of God (God now being referred to as The Keeper of Earth) from reaching the homeland when they are almost there. Many of the followers attempt to gain their own power and ignore the desires of the oversoul and the Keeper, just as occurred in the time of the Kings. And yet in the midst of this, as in II Isaiah, one rises up to be a Suffering Servant to bear the burdens of his people. But when they reach the promised land, not everything is perfect, for there also, the Philistines and Canaanites are already there. How shall they deal with them? In warfare, or bringing them into their new nation? Both options were chosen by the Israelites at different times, in different places in Palestine. As I reflect on this book, I continually see new Biblical parallels, and gain new insights- into the book, my understanding of Biblical exegesis, and into my own relationship with God. Card lays out how the Keeper's awesome plan will go forward, and how He wants to bring everyone She can into it. I contemplate how the same is true of God.
Rating:
Summary: The Character of the Patriarchs
Review: As the journey continues Card matures the characters. Yet we see no one flat- everyone, the most evil, has good points; the most good have their own private evils. The Patriarchal disagreements continue- Card uses the vast history of the Genesis stories of Jacob & Esau, Joseph, Abram, and Moses in one cast of characters to give us an idea of how the issues those men dealt with might be recapitulated 40 million years from now on another planet. And so just as in the time of the Judges and the Kings in the Old Testament, here people try to stop the journey from happening, and try to keep the people of God (God now being referred to as The Keeper of Earth) from reaching the homeland when they are almost there. Many of the followers attempt to gain their own power and ignore the desires of the oversoul and the Keeper, just as occurred in the time of the Kings. And yet in the midst of this, as in II Isaiah, one rises up to be a Suffering Servant to bear the burdens of his people. But when they reach the promised land, not everything is perfect, for there also, the Philistines and Canaanites are already there. How shall they deal with them? In warfare, or bringing them into their new nation? Both options were chosen by the Israelites at different times, in different places in Palestine. As I reflect on this book, I continually see new Biblical parallels, and gain new insights- into the book, my understanding of Biblical exegesis, and into my own relationship with God. Card lays out how the Keeper's awesome plan will go forward, and how He wants to bring everyone She can into it. I contemplate how the same is true of God.
Rating:
Summary: Earthfall is a must read for Card fans!
Review: Card makes a stunning return to the world of good writing with this book. While book 2 and 3 were a bit slow, Book 4 is very exciting. It parallels very nicely with the arrival on Lusitania in the Ender's series with the arrival on Earth, the discovery of 2 species, and the human's interactions with the 2 species. Faced with interacting with a new rat-person hybrid and a bat-person hybrid, stereotypes run rampant as the evil rat people tream up with Elemark and Mebbekew to form a nasty combination of people while Luet and Nafai join the "good" people of the colony with the bat people. The two sides go to war, and the humans begin to really understand why they were first removed from the Earth in the first place... An excellent read for anyone, if they have ever read the series or not!
Rating:
Summary: Earthfall is a must read for Card fans!
Review: Card makes a stunning return to the world of good writing with this book. While book 2 and 3 were a bit slow, Book 4 is very exciting. It parallels very nicely with the arrival on Lusitania in the Ender's series with the arrival on Earth, the discovery of 2 species, and the human's interactions with the 2 species. Faced with interacting with a new rat-person hybrid and a bat-person hybrid, stereotypes run rampant as the evil rat people tream up with Elemark and Mebbekew to form a nasty combination of people while Luet and Nafai join the "good" people of the colony with the bat people. The two sides go to war, and the humans begin to really understand why they were first removed from the Earth in the first place... An excellent read for anyone, if they have ever read the series or not!
Rating:
Summary: Outstanding novel....and the last good one
Review: Earthfall is perhaps the best novel of the Homecoming Series. Sadly, it is the last good novel in the series due to the poor production in the last novel. But....back to this one. This novel has it all. There is action and hatred in the early part of the story on the starship. Battle lines have been drawn, and sides have been chosen. Death is a distinct possibility between some of the family members. Some of the scenes in the early part of this novel are very intense and descriptive. You can almost feel the emotion come out of the pages. It leads to some interesting times and some spiteful feelings. Once the starship reaches Earth, things become very interesting. The humans are caught in the middle of a battleground that has been going on for years. Unfortunately, these two creatures are in need of one another. Family ties are now permantely broken, and now Earth creatures are also picking sides. Murder will occur, and certain key people will have their spirits broken. Revenge and hatred are found in the humans and the creatures they communicate with. There is also a lot of science to be found, and new flora to locate. Card does an excellent job creating a "new" Earth, complete with ignorant humans on the surface. Perhaps the greatest letdown occurs at the end. Finally, the family has split into two. You will see what direction the members will take. But you won't know anything else. The final novel fails to pick up right where this leaves off. So enjoy this book, and come to your own conclusions as to what happens next!
Rating:
Summary: Outstanding novel....and the last good one
Review: Earthfall is perhaps the best novel of the Homecoming Series. Sadly, it is the last good novel in the series due to the poor production in the last novel. But....back to this one. This novel has it all. There is action and hatred in the early part of the story on the starship. Battle lines have been drawn, and sides have been chosen. Death is a distinct possibility between some of the family members. Some of the scenes in the early part of this novel are very intense and descriptive. You can almost feel the emotion come out of the pages. It leads to some interesting times and some spiteful feelings. Once the starship reaches Earth, things become very interesting. The humans are caught in the middle of a battleground that has been going on for years. Unfortunately, these two creatures are in need of one another. Family ties are now permantely broken, and now Earth creatures are also picking sides. Murder will occur, and certain key people will have their spirits broken. Revenge and hatred are found in the humans and the creatures they communicate with. There is also a lot of science to be found, and new flora to locate. Card does an excellent job creating a "new" Earth, complete with ignorant humans on the surface. Perhaps the greatest letdown occurs at the end. Finally, the family has split into two. You will see what direction the members will take. But you won't know anything else. The final novel fails to pick up right where this leaves off. So enjoy this book, and come to your own conclusions as to what happens next!
Rating: 
Summary: Don't they have editors any more?
Review: Exploring Basilica, the holy city of women, in volume one of the Homecoming series, "Memories of Earth", was interesting. The various dreams and the arrival of General Moozh added spice to the second volume, "The Call of Earth". But Card had obviously run out of ideas by the time he reached volume three, "The Ships of Earth", and this retelling of the Biblical story of Abraham descended into the sort of traveller's diary written by unimaginative students going around the Med on their gap year. The narrative errors in the later volumes of this series are awe-inspiring in their clumsiness. "Earthfall", volume four of the series, introduces two new races, the angels and the diggers, each of which had the potential to revive this moribund tale. But because they're used only as pawns in the family drama between the brothers Nafai and Elemak, the opportunity they presented is almost entirely lost. And can any reader really doubt who will triumph in the sibling dispute this time? Also glaring is that the problem of infidelity, highlighted with the threat of capital punishment at the start of "Ships", is then totally ignored until midway through "Earthfall", when it emerges that bed-hopping had been occurring among the sleazier elements of the family since they made camp near the spaceport on Harmony years (and almost a whole book) earlier. But perhaps the most critical failure is the lack of communication between the Elemaki and the Oversoul. Hushidh dreams of the exceptionaly strong gold and silver connections between the main characters and the Oversoul, and the point is made repeatedly that all 16 of the "chosen People" are the result of a selective breeding programme and have exceptionally strong ties to the 40-million-year-old computer. And yet, apart from Elemak's dream of the eight couples disembarking on Earth and the limited power of the Oversoul to cloud his mind about whether knots have been tied or not, there is no sign that anyone on his side of the sibling divide has any link to the God/computer at all. While the first couple of books showed the women as powerful figures, the later volumes largely ignore them. Card tries to apologise for this every now and then, with acknowledgements to Lady Rasa over the naming of rivers and to Luet over the way Nafai proceeds without her, but it does nothing to bring them back into the mainstream of the story. The suggestion is made that strong women only exist in the luxury of a civilisation such as existed in Basilica. Tosh. On a practical level, an abridged version of the story could start by cutting the third volume entirely. Nothing happens in "Ships" that could not have been condensed and included in either the preceding or subsequent volume. Consider the main events of the book. 1) Nafai and the Ovesoul best Elemak shortly after they leave Basilica with the women. (add to end of "Call") 2) Four hi-tech "pulse" guns are lost, forcing Nafai to learn how to make and use a bow and arrow and allowing Vas to plot his revenge on his wife, Sevet, and her lover from Basilica, Obring (Cut) 3) A flash flood washes away one whole camel and gives Mebbekew a chance to be a hero, a character development which thereafter is forgotten. (Cut) 4) After several years, the party, encumbered by children but without suffering a single human death, completes its 60-day trek to the site where mankind arrived on Harmony (cut, or add to the end of "Call") 5) After another few years of sitting around, Nafai finds his way into the spaceport. (Move to opening of "Earthfall") 6) Elemak and Mebbekew try to assassinate Nafai. ("Move to opening of "Earthfall" or, better yet, cut) 7) 35 kids are born. (epilogue to "Call" or fait accompli in the prologue of "Earthfall") Yawn. The SF element in "Ships" is pathetically thin. So is the continuity. Zdorab tells Nafai in "Memory" that the Index has always been inert, then a few weeks later in "Ships" he tells Rasa about his researches in the index two years earlier. And not one of the devoutly Basilica-loving family thought to check with the Oversoul about their holy city, which, according to the epilogue of "Call", fell some two or three years after they left. The character development is as shallow as a scuff mark in the dust. The only character who makes any real change is Elemak, who eventually learns patience. Even the hero, Nafai, grows up without changing. The rest are occassionally dragged in to contribute dialogue to a conference, but don't actually do very much. Dol, despite her theatrical background, is kept almost entirely in the wings. And after the reader manages to wade through these 1,200-pages or so of heavy prose, what does Card have waiting to surprise and delight in the final volume of this epic history of the Wetchik clan? Er, nothing. The first thing he does is kill off all but one of his main characters. Enough said?
Rating:
Summary: Suspenseful!
Review: I didn;t expect so much suspence to be in a book about a long trip to Earth. It's an excellent book and adds great detail in the next generation charachters.
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